Content marketing encompasses a wide variety of media –from a company website, to email campaigns, to youtube videos. The panel also noted that content marketing can be used throughout all stages of the purchase funnel. With such a wide range of topic and purpose, it should come as no surprise that the answer to many questions related to best practices are “it depends.” The panel did circle back to many issues that apply across many types of content.

Have your goal in mind when developing content. Tailor messaging to the customer types you expect to view the content and know what action you want them to take after viewing the content. Hedges noted to make sure the tone of the content is appropriate to the channel.

Content doesn’t create itself. Ahn recommends an editor in chief role to ensure someone is taking the lead on getting new content as left to the masses this task may fall through the cracks. Dockstader noted that a robust backend that makes it easy for employees to contribute can facilitate willingness to contribute.

Content must be viewed. It seems obvious but even the best content only helps a brand if it is viewed. Barber stated that giving people tools to share content is key to increasing its reach. Given that content may end up far from its original post location, Dockstader cited the importance of making sure the brand was still associated (e.g. having the company web address appear at the beginning of a video)